Scarlets ace George North is considered one of the brightest young talents in Welsh rugby © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Tavis Knoyle | Rob McCusker | Ben Morgan | George North | Rhys Priestland | Morgan Stoddart | Josh Turnbull

Teams: Scarlets | Wales

Wales wings Morgan Stoddart and George North are just two of a staggering 21 players to have signed new contracts with the Scarlets.

As well as Stoddart and North, back-row trio Josh Turnbull, Rob McCusker and Ben Morgan, and half-backs Tavis Knoyle and Rhys Priestland have also put pen to paper on new deals.

Head Coach Nigel Davies said: "It was crucial and a key objective for our future rugby ambitions and goals to have retained such a strong core of players at Parc y Scarlets and is a hugely positive step for us next season and beyond.

"We're delighted to have retained a number of key impact players who are committed for the forthcoming seasons to the Scarlets, our style of rugby and our identity and culture.

"It underpins the investment and progress that is being made in development of great Welsh talent from within our region and comes just two days after we fielded an all Wales starting XV on Sunday against Treviso.

"Our philosophy of putting our belief and faith in young rugby players discovered, nurtured and developed from within our own system, has shown itself to be of value and purpose. This season we've already seen an increasing number of our Scarlets picked for international duty. A total of 29 of our players were on international duty at U18, U20 and senior Wales levels during the Six Nations - a source of real pride for all those working within our region and supporting us.

"When we then add the leadership and experience of our senior players with Stephen Jones, Matthew Rees, Sean Lamont, Iestyn Thomas and others providing guidance and vision and mentoring a young group of players, I'm confident that we're building a good balance within the squad. The mix of youth and experience with the coaching set-up we have, just adds energy and makes our rugby environment competitive and dynamic."

The full list of players to have signed new two- or three-year contracts is as follows:

Aaron Shingler
Ben Morgan
Damian Welch
Dan Newton
Emyr Phillips
Morgan Stoddart
Peter Edwards
Phil John
Dale Ford (development contract)
Gareth Maule
Johnathan Edwards
Kirby Myhill (development contract)
Scott Williams
Rob McCusker
Tavis Knoyle
Aled Davies
George North
Jordan Williams (development contract)
Josh Turnbull
Rhodri Jones (development contract)
Rhys Priestland